Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has asserted that he has the vision to serve the country looking after all citizens rather than serve as a political leader concerned only about a particular community.

Addressing the main function in Colombo to mark 72nd Independence day celebrations this morning, Rajapaksa said when the leader is elected following a legitimate process, he becomes the President of all and is not bound to serve only the interests of the people who voted for him.  He added that as the President, he represents the entire Sri Lankan nation irrespective of ethnicity, religion, party affiliation or other differences.

President comments came as national anthem at the main ceremony was sung only in Sinhala and not in Tamil, as has been the tradition since 2016. Tamil political parties had demanded to keep both versions of national anthem. Mano Ganesan, a Tamil politician and former minister of national integration said the national anthem in Tamil is not just another song but the Sri Lankan identity of the Tamil speaking community.

Insurance cover on bank deposits has been increased to five lakh rupees from one lakh rupees. The decision came into effect from yesterday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement that the cover is provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI. This, the RBI said, has been done with a view to providing a greater measure of protection to depositors.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday had made the announcement regarding increasing insurance cover to five lakh rupees in her Budget Speech.

The 11th edition of the DefExpo-2020, a flagship biennial event of the Ministry of Defence, will kick start in Lucknow today. The five-day event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Union Defence Minister and Local MP Rajnath Singh.

One of the largest mega defence exhibition of its kind is being held for the first time in Lucknow and it will cover the entire spectrum of the country's aerospace, defence and security interests.

This edition of DefExpo promises to bring new technologies, technological solutions, where Defence manufacturing companies from India and abroad showcase their products and services in Defence arena, on a single platform.

Shaktikanta Das, The governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has been named ‘Central Banker of the Year 2020 – Asia-Pacific’ by The Banker.

The Banker is a London-based international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times. It is known for its annual rankings of the world's top banks. The 2020 list“celebrates the officials that have best managed to stimulate growth and stabilise their economy”.

The publication named Das as the 2020 Central Banker in the Asia-Pacific region, and stated that the RBI chief had brought in measures to tighten rules around shadow banking and brought Indian banking up to standards through a “restrained approach to governance”.

Ajit Kumar, the new Chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, has Chennai link as he was the Principal Chief Commissioner of GST Zone for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs zones in Chennai prior to his posting. In his 36-year career, Ajit Kumar, a 1984 batch IRS officer and an alumni of Rashtriya Military School, has worked in many capacities in the department including the Directorate of Vigilance at New Delhi, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence at Mumbai, a release stated.  

Son of an army officer, he hails from Calicut, Kerala and joined the Customs department in the year 1984. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Certificate for his work in the year 1991 by the CBEC.  He has worked in many Customs and Central Excise formations and also in Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Directorate of Vigilance, Narcotics Control Bureau, Directorate of Systems. 

Over 73 lakh candidates trained under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana. Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship RK Singh said this in a written reply in the Lok Sabha yesterday. He said, the Ministry is implementing the scheme with an objective to provide skilling to one crore youth across the country.

Mr Singh said, under the scheme, the focus on employment has been significantly enhanced and candidates have been placed in various sectors and industries.

The government in its budget 2020 has announced a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) with a total budget outlay of Rs 8000 Crore for a period of five years to be implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).

Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in Union Budget 2020 speech said that the new economy is based on innovations that disrupt established business models. Artificial intelligence, Internet-of-Things (IoT), 3D printing, drones, DNA data storage, quantum computing, etc., are re-writing the world economic order.”

Quantum technologies are rapidly developing globally with a huge disruptive potential. The next generation transformative technologies that will receive a push under this mission include quantum computers and computing, quantum communication, quantum key distribution, encryption, crypt analysis, quantum devices, quantum sensing, quantum materials, quantum clock and so on. The areas of focus for the Mission will be in fundamental science, translation, technology development, human and infrastructural resource generation, innovation and start-ups to address issues concerning national priorities.

Central Board of Direct Taxes has said that The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed that an Indian citizen shall be deemed to be resident in India if he or she is not liable to be taxed in any country or jurisdiction. 

It said that the new provision in Finance Bill, 2020 is not intended to include in tax net those Indian citizens who are bonafide workers in other countries. 

CBDT issued a clarification on the new provision pertaining to residence in India saying this is an anti-abuse provision since it is noticed that some Indian citizens shift their stay in low or no tax jurisdiction countries to avoid payment of tax in India. 

CBDT noted that the interpretation by some section of the media that Indians who are bonafide workers in other countries, including in the Middle East, and who are not liable to tax in these countries, will be taxed in India on the income that they have earned there is incorrect. 

Madhya Pradesh has bagged the first position for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani will present this award to Madhya Pradesh at a function in New Delhi today.

Madhya Pradesh Minister for Women and Child Development Imarti Devi and Principal Secretary Anupam Rajan will receive the award. Indore district has also bagged the first place for better performance of the scheme. AIR correspondent reports that the main objective of the Matru Vandana Yojana is to provide incentives of five thousand rupees for the loss of wages of working women and to ensure their proper rest and nutrition during pregnancy. The payment of the incentive amount is deposited directly into the bank account.

In Madhya Pradesh, more than 14 lakh 55 thousand beneficiaries have been registered under the Pradhan Mantri Matra Vandana Yojana. The first installment has been paid to about 13 lakh 40 thousand women, while second installment to around 12 lakh and third installment has been paid to 8 lakh 80 thousand beneficiaries.

In tennis, Serbia's Novak Djokovic won his record 8th Men's singles title in Australian Open at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne yesterday.

He beat first-time Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem  of Austria.

The men's doubles title was clinched by Joe Salisbury of UK and American Rajeev Ram who beat Australia's Luke Saville and Max Purcell.